Kata'ib al-Imam Ali

Kata'ib al-Imam Ali is a Shia Islamist paramilitary group in Iraq that was formed in June 2014. Its emergence was linked to the large-scale Shia mobilization after the escalation of Iraq's Sunni Arab insurgency into a full-out civil war in 2014, and it was connected to the Iranian Quds Force, as well as other Shi'ite paramilitary groups. The group also rallied some Christians to its banner under the minor Spirit of God Jesus Son of Mary Battalions, as it appealed to the supposed affinity between Shia Islam and Christianity and the Kurds' supposed betrayal of Christians following the fall of Mosul to the Islamic State in 2014. The group fought against IS in both Iraq and Syria, siding with the Syrian Arab Republic during the Syrian Civil War.